Yep, kids are like a spring. The more you hold them back, the farther they'll go.

I just apologized. Didn't matter if I was right or wrong, they got the gratification they were after and went on their way. Come to think of it, that technique works as well on spouses as it does on parents.

This always works on my friends' parents, but my mom is bipolar and paranoid, so she believes I'm rude, that my apologies aren't legitimate, and that I try to make her angry on purpose. She's the kind of mom that if I were to walk away from a toxic conversation that would only end up with her screaming, that she'd come running after me. I can never win.

^sounds like my mom.

#49, in many third-world countries today and until the recent past in the developed world, that's exactly what kids were used for. It's a recent luxury that kids have can afford to go to a gym and lift an iron weight just to put it back down again. Little bastards need to use their energy milking cows or pulling weeds. Lots of people go to the gym just to look better. That's narcissistic.

#52, in 300 characters, we never get the whole story, so to make this site fun, we have to make up shit. Trying to look good can be a manifestation of narcissism. It depends to what extent the OP is working on it and what he or she may be excluding to focus on their looks.

Uh you have no idea what OP does around the house or in their life, how about you don't just jump to all these silly conclusions about the OP. Not only that, OP lives in the USA not a 3rd world country, so who cares what they do vs. what the OP does. Everyone's lifestyle is different.

So, 57, are you a long-winded narcissist?

I CANNOT STAND people like you, #49. You hate children and you think they should be slaves for their parents.